This is the Multi-Purpose pc board that can be used to build a variety of projects to use as boosters or buffers, including designs for circuits using bipolar silicon, germanium, jfet and mosfet transistors. Each board purchase includes a link to a page of example circuits (with parts lists) that may be used with this board.
Circuits that can be built on this pcb include:
- Silicon Transistor Booster
- AMZ Muffer
- AMZ Muffmaster
- AC128 Germanium Transistor Booster
- PNP Rangemaster-type Treble Booster
- Germanium Transistor Buffer
- Jfet Transistor Booster
- Jfet Transistor Buffer/Line Driver
- Mosfet Transistor Booster (not the AMZ Mosfet Booster)
- Mosfet Buffer
- Power Supply Filter
- and MORE!
Read more about this versatile circuit.
This summer I have a big renovation project at my house so
I do not have much time to write new articles or blog posts.
I will continue to make sure that all orders for
transistors, ebooks and pc boards are shipped quickly.
Lots of new ideas, mods and circuits to
come, once my home project is finished!
The FV-1 is a digital reverb chip from Spin Semiconductor. It has 8 internal reverb programs and the capacity to address 8 user-programmable settings contained in an external 24LC32 memory chip. This mod is designed to add another serial memory chip and expand the available user slots to 16.
The FV-1 will be sending out a data stream that is addressing the external memory chip as 000 on the A0, A1 and A2 device select bits. These are pins 1, 2, and 3 of the 24LC32 serial memory chip.
This means that you can add extra memory by using a toggle switch to bank-select the chips. For example, adding a second 24LC32 would give you 8 additional user-programmable memory slots, for a total of 16 in two banks of 8, selected by the toggle switch.
I don’t think the FV-1 will realize that the bank has been changed so you may have to change program selection to make it read from the new chip.
In the diagram below, IC2 is activated because its A0 pin is pulled to ground with the switch in the position shown.
It is also possible to address multiple 24LC32 memory chips with a simple AVR chip as an address driver. It would then be easy to use a soft touch switch to page through several banks of memory chips, each with 8 user programs.
The OpenStomp™ Coyote-1 is an open source audio effects processor built for guitar players. With the Coyote-1 users can develop custom audio effects in software (like distortion, echo, chorus etc.), mix multiple effects to build “patches”, and exchange those effects and patches with the OpenStomp™ community.
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This tone control network was submitted to the patent office in April 1937 but it is still in widespread use today. I’ll redraw the circuit and you will probably recognize it…
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You can now download all of the AMZ Ebooks on guitar effects design in one archived file. The download is about 600k and I’ve put it on Rapidshare to save my bandwidth (it’s still a free download).
There are 9 files in the zip so download it now and start reading! More effects design info is available in the AMZ Lab Notebook.
The junction field effect transistor (jfet) was invented by William Shockley at Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1951.
But did you know that the original jfet was germanium? In his patent, Shockley describes making a transistor with N-type and P-type germanium layers to form the transistor junctions.
If you want to know more, download the original jfet patent and see the details.
I was reading some posts on HCFX and a discussion about germanium transistors and temperature caught my attention. I decided to go into the lab to do a couple of quick experiments.
Results are after the break…
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This is the basic configuration that should work for anyone:
Guitar —> Buffer —> Any pedals —> Buffer —> Amp
The first buffer is providing an interface for the guitar and its long cable to the pedalboard. The final buffer is a line driver for the cable back to the amp. In between, you can put any pedals you like.
The buffers can even be buffered bypass pedals and not specifically buffer-only circuits.
Like any rule of thumb, this one is subject to change based on your guitar, cables, pedals and amp. This is just a starting point: Let your ears be your guide.
Use good quality, low capacitance guitar cords!
The AMZ 2-resistor mod for the Boss DS-1 Distortion pedal.
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